Europe butadiene agreed down by €75/tonne at €1,340/tonne

26 April 2013 16:26[Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS)--The European May butadiene (BD) contract price has been agreed down by €75/tonne at €1,340/tonne ($1,740/tonne), a major producer said on Friday.

The contract is settled on a free delivered (FD) northwest Europe (NWE) basis. To date, two producers and two consumers have confirmed settlement, with confirmation from one other consumer still pending.

Sources said that discussions had been tough and the talking range very wide at the start.

The decrease is a compromise between soft demand, weaker upstream naphtha and supply constraints given cracker and BD maintenance shutdowns, as well as concerns that cracker operating rates might be reduced further because of weak ethylene.